Raven, Fox, and Stag
by Ebony Foxfire
Summary: Alright, then. This is just the beginning of a little animagi series, because i love the idea of transforming into an animal and i also love R/H romance! This will incorporate a little drama, and i'll probably get around to more romance...we'll see how mu
1. In which our heroes have a dream . . .

A/N - Yes, I'm still alive, and I've decided to start something new . . .we'll see how this goes. I think I have a plot, but I'm definitely not sure. This'll probably turn out to be an adventure-y thing, with a tad of R/H thrown in. Hey, Veralidaine gave her bloody cold to ME, so now I'm the one taking Sudafed and seeing what it does to my writing skills. Hmm, let's see how this effort turns out . . . please don't kill me! *achoo!* *snrk* sorry. Need more Sudafed.   
  
Disclaimer - everything belong to JK Rowling. Yay her!  
  
  
She perched silently on the ancient branch of a long forgotten tree, deep in the heart of the Forbidden Forest. She stood on one horny leg, then the next, carefully preening her glossy black plumage with her sharp yellow beak, never making a sound, simply waiting. Suddenly, a nearby bush rustled and she spread her wings to take flight, tensing her back and wing muscles as she positioned her long primary feathers for flight - and then stopped. She relaxed her tense muscles and dropped her wings to her side, calling out a throaty greeting to the newcomer. It was a red fox, a beautiful orangey-crimson with a snow-white underbelly and tip of his tail. The handsome creature had black boots on his legs and a shiny wet nose, and he stretched as he casually yapped a greeting to the small black bird. The raven spread her wings and gracefully floated down to the fox, landing on his shoulder. The fox turned his erect-eared head to face her, tongue lolling out of his mouth in a goofy grin as he affectionately licked the beautiful bird. She glared sternly back at him, annoyed at him for messing er feathers, but there was kindness in her beady stare. The bush again rustled as a slender leg poked out from the foliage. A large tawny body followed the dainty cloven hoof and finally an antlered head emerged, with gentle but very strange eyes that burned a brilliant green, a lightning shaped marking in between them. The stag was as graceful as the winds as he lowered his head to give the fox and bird a friendly nudge, as if he was saying, "Let's go!" The raven again spread her wings and took off at a fast clip, followed by the stag and then the fox. The stag took the lead and the raven dropped back to fly with the fox as they tore through the Forest, each thrilling with the joy of movement. The raven, overcome, flew straight up through the canopy, released a penetrating call, and dove through the leaves to rejoin her friends . . .  
  
Hermione woke, a blissful smile stretched across her flushed face. (A/N - if you've read my other fluff, you'll know I'm big on dreams ^_^) She propped herself up in her bed and stared out the window at the stars, wondering what the dream had meant. She knew that she had been that raven, and the miracle of flying still had her in it's grip. The green-eyed stag could only have been Harry, and the red fox only Ron (who else could look so adorable when they grinned?). But what did it all mean? Hermione laid back against her pillows, her brow furrowed over her half-closed eyes. In the morning she thought sleepily. In the morning I'll think about animagi . . . her eyes opened wide. Animagi? Where did that word come from? She didn't have time to ponder as she fell promptly asleep.  
  
The next morning, Hermione, Ron and Harry sought each other out.   
  
"I've already talked to Ron," Harry started sharply, when the three of them were together. "Did you dream too? About being animagi?"   
  
Hermione was shocked. "Yes, but I had no idea that you two had the same dream. Was it in the Forbidden Forest? And - and Harry were you a stag? And you, Ron," she suddenly blushed, remembering the affection she had felt in the dream, "You were a fox? Red with black boots?"  
  
Ron grinned at the stammering Hermione, "Yes, and you were a black bird. A crow or something."  
  
"A raven," Hermione answered testily. "Crows are twice as large, and they're quite unpleasant, whereas ravens are - "  
  
"Not now Hermione," Harry stopped her wearily. "We've a lot to do if we're to become animagi."  
  
Hermione blanched. "Animagi?" she squeaked. "Harry, do you know about the process of becoming animagi? I did a report for Professor McGonagall on it. Its really hard and only really advanced wizards can do it and it takes years of training! Why should we even do it anyway? Just because we all had a silly dream . . ." She stopped herself. She couldn't forget the sensation of flight that easily.  
  
"Oh, come of it Hermione," said Ron, aggravated. "We can do it! Can you imagine what it'd actually be like to be a fox - or a raven? I be out dreams were only a bit of a prelude!" Ron's eyes clouded over and he suddenly got a dreamy expression on his face. It wasn't just the fox he was thinking of . . . he had felt a certain affection for Hermione too, and her returning it . . .  
  
Harry shattered his reverie. "It's more than that," he stated quietly. "When I woke up and thought, well, how sill it would be to even attempt it, my scar hurt." He rubbed his forehead meaningfully. "I mean it really hurt whenever I had a thought against it. I think we're going to need those skills."  
  
Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance. Harry's scar only hurt when You-know-who was feeling very vicious or was very near. Perhaps the scar was warning them that they would need it in order to fight You-know-who . . .  
  
Harry seemed to read their thoughts. "If we need to become animagi in order to beat Voldemort," Ron and Hermione cringed at the name, "then I'll do whatever it takes to do it. I figure with the help of the top student in the school," he quirked an eyebrow at Hermione, who looked hastily at the floor, "we should be able to do it by the end of the year!"  
  
Hermione looked up, startled. "The end of the year?" She cried, astonished. Although it was still the beginning of their first term, the goal of the end of their fifth year was unthinkable! It took advanced wizards years of study, and sometimes even they couldn't learn at all. But if they needed it to beat You-know-who . . . she saw Harry and Rom giving her puppy-dog eyes.  
  
Bursting out laughing, Hermione agreed. "Okay, I'm in. Animagi by the end of the year. We'll probably need it."   
  
The three all shook on it and the boys left Hermione to go to Divination. On her way up the stairs to Arithmancy, Hermione shook her head. "How on earth are we going to do this?"  
  
  
A/N - what do you think? I think this will turn out to be a series! Yay! My first real one! Please please please please r/r!!!!   



	2. In which our heroes begin to act . . .

A/N - Sorry to keep you all waiting for the next bit for so long, and I apologize for the extreme fluffiness of this next bit. I'll get the next part up before tuesday (the end of my Winter Break! *sob*), I swear. And it'll pertain to the actual nature of the story, not jkust some multisyllabic adjectives strung together. Oh, and I've got a name for this fic, so look for "The Raven, the Stag, and the Fox" part 3 for the next bit. Yes, I KNOW it's not creative, but maybe I'll rename the thing later. I just want people to stop thinking my fics are cliques! All right, on you go.  
  
Disclaimer - NOTHING'S MINE EXCEPT THE PLOT!!!!  
  
  
Part Two  
  
Later that evening, the three ambitious teenagers met in the library. Hermione started the conversation with a firm glare at the two boys.  
  
"I just want to make sure that you know what we're getting in to," she stated stiffly. She reached into her book bag and pulled out a stack of books - all over a thousand pages in length.   
  
Harry and Ron's eyes widened as Hermione flipped through the incredibly thin pages. They were filled with impossibly tiny writing, no illustrations, and there were twelve volumes in all.   
  
"Wha-what are those?" Ron asked in a very timid tone. He didn't look as though he really wanted to know.   
  
"These are books on how to become animagi," Hermione offered proudly, patting the pile of books as though she were a proud parent. "The best ever written and rented from our very own Hogwarts library." She noticed the dumbfounded stares of Harry and Ron. "Well, what did you expect? A pamphlet?! And we all have to read them to understand what we're doing."  
  
"But, Hermione!!" Harry wheedled. "How do you expect us to read all of that?! Ron and I aren't like you! We're just average students and -"   
  
"It was your idea, don't blame me!" cried Hermione testily. She suddenly smiled mischievously - a smile that seemed oddly misplaced on her usually stern features. "However, if you two boys are very good," she continued in a singsong voice, "I might have something to help you along a bit."  
  
Ron and Harry exchanged a desperate glance and simultaneously dropped to their knees, folded their hands as if in prayer, and begged, "Please?"  
  
"I'll love you forever, Hermione!" Ron pleaded, eyes looking up at her as though she would sentence him to certain death if he did not appease her. Harry was agreeing, seeming slightly reminiscent of a toy with a spring for a neck as he nodded fervently. "I'll never ask for help again, I'll turn Malfoy into a newt, I'll . . ."  
  
Hermione silenced him with a laugh. "Before you sell me your souls, I suppose I shall have to help you two pitiful creatures." She extended her hand to help the Bambi-eyed duo off of the floor. She rummaged around in her robe for a moment before coming up with three pairs of glasses. She handed a pair to each of the boys and kept one for herself.  
  
"Uh, Hermione . . ." Harry started, staring at the glasses with evident distaste. "What are these?" He turned the spectacles over in his hand. They looked as if a mad scientist had toyed with them and then decided they were too hideous to look at anymore. Harry's was a brilliant pink, Ron's was a particularly dreadful shade of green and both were decked with knobs and springs and buttons of all sorts. The lenses had to be two inches thick and the rims nearly as wide. Hermione beamed proudly down at them.  
  
"I charmed them myself!" she practically radiated pride. "It was really advanced work, too! Half of the seventh-years can't do it!" She was oblivious to Ron and Harry's disgusted looks at her accomplishments as she continued, "I looked it up in the library! All we have to do is skim the books and the glasses will feed not the entirety of the text, but a summary into our brains! Ingenious, isn't it guys! Guys?"  
  
"Hermione, could you get any more revolting glasses?" Ron blurted out, holding his by a corner and grimacing. "I mean, look at them! Cor, they're grotesque!"  
  
Harry saw Hermione's "I'm-about-to-kill-Ron" look and stepped hastily in between them. "We really," he shot a look at Ron, "REALLY appreciate the spell Hermione. Thanks loads, WE mean it." He hissed to Ron, "Does it matter what they look like? Do you want to read those monsters?"  
  
Ron nodded with a barely audible sigh. There was no way he was going to read all those hardbacks, and he didn't really want another fight with Hermione. He's sworn to himself that he'd try to be a bit less impertinent to her, as it seemed that they were nearly hexing each other ever other day. And besides, the way the light shone around her hair in a halo and lit up her eyes was sometimes so fascinating . . .  
  
"Hello? Ron, are you listening?" Hermione was glaring crossly at Ron, arms folded in front of her. "I was explaining how the glasses work, but If you want to be rude and ignore me-"  
  
"Thanks, 'Mione, I'll be rude some other time when weeks of reading don't hang in the balance. Please start over," Ron replied, shaking any thoughts of halos from his head.  
  
Furrowing her brow and sticking out her tongue, Hermione continued. "As I was saying, ahem, you simply have to whisper 'empitome litterae,' tap the glasses with your wand, turn this left dial three times, the large one eight times counterclockwise, this shiny black one seventeen and a quarter turns to the right, push this button, twist this . . ."  
  
After Hermione had gone over the instructions several times (both Ron and Harry kept slipping in to stupors at inconveniently crucial points) the three of them had the knack of it and were already starting to engross themselves in the first volume.  
  
  
A/N - Again, sorry it took me so long to post this bit. Please don't reprimand me, I've already beaten my head on the wall for fifteen minutes today. R/R! 


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